Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Mythical Heist
by Anonymous262
Summary: Percy Jackson thought his demigod troubles had gone away. He had fought in two wars, went on countless quests, and risked his life more times than any demigod should. All he wanted to do was settle into a normal life and try to make it into college. When an outrage occurs in Olympus, Percy is thrust back into the scene of a demigod, with stakes riding high on his next quest.
1. I Take the Hardest Survey of My Life

**CHAPTER 1 - I Take the Hardest Survey of My Life**

I sat there wondering, is it possible to die of boredom? I had been sitting in my room for what seemed like an eternity. Staring endlessly at this manifest called the SAT-Prep Booklet.

Calling it a booklet does not do it justice. A booklet is like a small informational pamphlet that you don't actually read, rather you just browse it for the pictures. This was definitely not a booklet. I was afraid if i threw the book at the wall, i would end up with an eviction notice from my mom's landlord for property damage.

"ARRRGH", I wished my girlfriend was there to help me. Annabeth had taken the SAT's last month and managed to get a PERFECT SCORE. I doubted i would even be able to fill in the bubbles correctly for my name.

Sadly though she was currently in Boston, a family emergency she said. I had tried to pry some more info from her but she gave me that look that said, "ask again and you'll die". I decided i liked living more and dropped the issue. I learned that when Annabeth doesn't want to talk about something, the best thing to do is not talk about it.

It didn't help that my mind was also still racing, trying to figure out what was going on with Apollo and Camp. Just a couple days ago the former God Apollo had shown up at my apartment with some new half-blood. Meg i think her name was...or was it Mel? I don't remember but bottom line, a giant statue, which strangely resembled Apollo had marched on Camp and nearly crushed it to pieces. Luckily only the pavilion was destroyed. Poor year rounders. I wondered where they would eat for the time being. I had Iris Messaged Annabeth and told her about the events that transpired. She said she would be back soon to design a "better", more "architecturally sound" pavilion. To me all you needed was a bunch of picnic tables.

Under normal circumstances I would of helped Apollo without a second thought, but after being forced into a demigod version of "Wife Swap" with Jason Grace, a demigod from the Roman Camp, i decided it was time to go on a demigod break. I had a future i needed to worry about and that meant scoring decently on the SAT's. Annabeth and I had decided we would both attend New Rome University, on a full scholarship (you get those when you save the world). The only way they would honor it though would be if I scored at least a 1,000 on the SAT, a score Annabeth scoffed at.

I involuntarily groaned at the book in front of me. "I need a study break" I decided as I slammed the book shut and began trooping my way to the kitchen.

My mom and step-father Paul had gone out for the night. My mom was due with my half-sister in a couple of weeks and Paul had wanted to take her out for the night before it got too close to her due date (Paul did not want his kid born in the third aisle of a movie theater).

Luckily for me my wonderful mom had put on a batch of cookies in the oven before she left and they would be done any minute now. As I eyed the oven timer I heard a knock on the door. Either my mom and Paul couldn't find a good movie to watch, or Annabeth had come back from her trip to Boston.

I scurried to the door, anxious for some company after enduring a long session of solitary confinement with the SAT. When i looked through the door peephole I was disappointed to see neither my mom or Annabeth. Instead I saw a middle aged women. She had her autumn colored hair tied back into a tight ponytail and wore business casual clothes. Slung over her shoulder was a large brown purse. If it wasn't 9 o'clock at night i would of thought she was trying to sell me something. Kneeling beside her was a cute little black labrador, wagging its tail back and forth in a ferociously adorable way.

This wouldn't be the first time I met a strange women with a seemingly innocent dog by her side. I remember back when I was only twelve years old. I had gone on a quest for Zeus's stolen Master Bolt. Long story short, the encounter resulted in me jumping off the Space Needle in Seattle.

"Hello". She began to knock again. "Is anyone home".

I opened the door slightly, not undoing the lock but opening the door wide enough for me to slip half of my face out the door to make eye contact. I was surprised by the color of her eyes. They were strikingly bright blue, I felt as if she was piercing my soul with them when we made eye contact.

"Um… it's kind of the middle of the night… are you trying to get a donation or something" I asked.

She retorted my question with a smirk and her dog gave a little yelp of joy. "No my dear, i'm here for a quick survey. My boss has been pressuring me to meet my quota for the day and you would be my last surveyor".

I didn't believe it one bit, I replied, "Isn't it a little late for that".

"I understand it's late but New York has a lot of apartment complexes, it takes a long time knocking from door to door. You must understand. Please my boss has threatened to fire me if i don't reach my quota. I'll have to give up poor little Leia" she said as she looked at her dog which had now whimpered with the mention of losing its owner.

I didn't want to turn her down but something seemed off about the way she looked. She didn't seem like a normal monster, if she was one she probably would of already ripped the door off and gnawed at my face.

I did a double take at her dog and began to falt. "I'm sorry miss but my parents aren't home. I can't let a stranger in without them knowing".

"Oh i'm not stranger" she replied. With that offered a business card which i begrudgingly took.

"FOX POINT PREDICTIONS"- The card read on the front with an address in small print on the bottom. With my dyslexia I could barely make out the print but i recognized the street name, i had seen it in downtown Manhattan before. I vaguely remember seeing multiple investment firms stocked up along that street.

She began to speak, "See dear, I work for an investment firm and your answers are needed to complete my research on investment plans".

"I'm sorry, I really am but I can't just let you into my house. I believe you-" I actually began to believe her, "but my parents would freak if something were to happen".

"Dear, it will only take a couple minutes. I promise." She gave me a large, pleading smile.

Maybe I could help her out and not have her come in. "Is it possible for you to just ask me the questions through the door and I can answer that way." I compromised.

"Dear my feet ache from walking in these high heels all day"- it did look pretty painful- "it would be much easier if I had a surface to write on. I left my clip board at the office".

Well she definitely didn't seem like a monster, maybe she was a goddess in disguise, trying to test me. Juno, Hera's Roman form had once made me carry her a half mile to Camp Jupiter. I was under the impression I was helping a homeless hippie. Gods can work in strange ways.

"Well I guess if you make it quick I can let you in" I said as I opened the door welcoming her in.

As she stepped in my apartment I noticed more features about her. She had pointy ears and a sharp nose. My friend Leo had pointy ears which made him look like an elf. She didn't reassemble an elf at all. She almost looked like a fox-

"Okay, now let's get started" she announced as her and the black Labrador headed past my small living room space into the kitchen where she sat down and took out paperwork.

I was beginning to regret my decision to ever open up the door. Hopefully the survey would be quick, part of me hoped I would get a small reward at the end. Even if it was a small knick-knack toy. I had loved getting prizes. I used to beg my mom to buy me those over priced McDonald's Happy Meals. I could of cared less about the food I just wanted the toy inside.

I took a seat myself at the table and noticed a nametag that read "Tammy". She shuffled through her purse, "Ah-ha" she exclaimed as she pulled out a pen. "Okay Dear. Lets begin!".

Tammy began to sprout questions at me left and right. How many in the household… favorite kind of movie genre… do you plan on investing in stocks… what model is your fridge. It was like a rapid fire questionnaire.

"Great you completed the first part" Tammy exhaled. "Now it's time for the second secret section. I must warn you though. These next questions can become very difficult to answer".

"Secret section" I asked puzzled. "Do i get a year's supply of something for completing this".

"No Dear, I'm sorry but my company is short on money. I would love to offer you something but we did just shut down 5 years ago".

Ice ran through my veins at that. I had remembered seeing on the news years ago that some large investment firm in Manhattan had taken a huge risk on a product and it flopped tremendously causing the firm to shut down. She didn't work for an investment firm. Sadly i figured that out a little too late.

Tammy stood up and gave out a large howl. I watched in horror as her appearance shifted from a human. No longer did she look like a casual business women. Her face morphed into that of a fox's. With a long snout with a small black nose tip and long pointy ears. Her clothes had ripped off leaving a furry body also resembling that of a fox. Her fur was thick and appeared as the same color as her humanoid hair was- autumn.

Normally when you see a fox, they are on all fours. Not Tammy. She stood straight like a person. Even when i stood up and pulled out my trusty pen Riptide and uncapped it to a sword, Tammy still hovered a good foot over me.

Her dog Leia had changed from a cute black lab to large hound, easily the largest dog I had seen. Leia barred her long sharp teeth at me and growl viciously as if she was ready to bite my face off.

"Not now Laelaps" Tammy said. "We need some more answers first. Now Dear Percy, I hope you can sit down and answers some more question for me. If you cooperate i will make your death a lot less painful than it has to be. Still painful though".

Laelaps… I had heard that name before. There was an ancient Greek Myth about a dog Laelaps. It was a gift from Zeus. It could hunt down whatever it was searching for and it would always succeed. But wasn't its purpose to hunt down the Teumessian Fox.

I looked at Tammy "You're the Teumessian Fox".

"Oh what gave it away" she mocked slyly. "Is it my ears? Or what about my nose? I've been trying to get a nose job for years but everyone refuses to serve a fox. At least they made a tasty meal".

With that her fox abdomen had let out a very unlady like growl. "Oh look. It's almost time for me to eat again".

"Wait...wasn't your dog Laelaps created to hunt you. Why is it helping you now."

"Dear, I am the one who is supposed to be asking the questions. But if you must know, Laelaps simply adores these doggy treats i bought decades ago. Zeus never gave Laelaps treats, all he did was give her new targets to hunt down. After a while even a dog's loyalty can falter when not cared for". Tammy then whipped out a doggy treat bag - DOGGY BITES - from her purse and fed it to Laelaps who was waiting anxiously with his mouth open and engulfed the whole bag.

In the moment Tammy was distracted I attempted to slash through her with Riptide. Unfortunately Tammy had the speed of a fox. Just when my sword was inches from her face she dipped down, dodging the arc of my swing. She swiped my arm causing me to drop my sword and let out a yelp of pain as claws raked my arm leaving trails of blood.

"Now Dear that wasn't nice" she smiled. "There's a reason no one can catch me. If only your silly Hunters of Artemis knew. I've been leading them on a wild goose chase all across America. By now they are probably somewhere in Indiana thinking they've been closing in on me. I will always be two steps ahead".

I grabbed a dish towel from the counter top and wrapped it around my arm. Those claws had pierced my skin good and caused my arm to gush out blood. I really need to stop getting blood all over my mom's good dish towels.

"What do you want" I inquired. "What information do i have that you need so badly".

"Well that's another question Dear. I thought i told you to stop asking questions, that's my job". Laelaps inched closer to me and let out a deep growl. "I know you have been to your father Poseidon's palace. You know the layout. More importantly you know his throne room. We need you knowledge".

I looked at her with my best impersonation of Annabeth's death glare. "What makes you think i would tell you anything".

Tammy broke out a large smile- if foxes could even smile- and reached into her purse, pulling out what looked like a skateboard helmet but much deadlier. Large sharp needles protruded from inside where the earholes should of been. On top of the helmet there was a small TV screen connected.

"I'm guessing that's not for cleaning ear wax" I said.

"Of course not dear. This little contraption will tell us everything we need to know. Maybe a little more" she winked.

My face went cherry red thinking about my memories with Annabeth. I had to think fast or i wouldn't be having any more memories with my girlfriend.

Tammy began to approach me with the helmet. "Don't make this any harder than it has to be. Just let me put this on and I won't have to order Laelaps to restrain you".

"Wait". An idea began to brew in my mind. "Laelaps can hunt down anything right".

"Of course she can. No one and nothing can hide from her". Tammy said proudly as if I had insulted her precious dog.

"Really because I don't believe you" I said looking at Laelaps, who had now began to bark sporadically. "In fact, i guarantee that i know something Laelaps can't find".

"Impossible!" Tammy shrieked. "My dog can find anything. Nothing can hide from him!"

I lifted my good arm and wagged my finger. "Nope. There's something i know not even Laelaps can find".

"Preposterous" Tammy started, "Name it and Laelaps can find it". With that Laelaps turned to its owner and began pant waiting- as if it was ready for Tammy to throw it a bone in a game of fetch.  
"I don't know" I said. "I wouldn't want to ruin Laelaps reputation. No one cares for a dog who can find almost anything. That'll make Laelaps no different than a normal dog".

"How dare you say that" Tammy declared. "I demand you name something and Tammy will track it down within seconds".

"Well there are many things i doubt Laelaps could track down" I began. "But i'll go easy on her. I bet she can't find the upcoming SAT test answers".

Tammy's face gaped open like a fish and like out a small laugh. "Silly demigod, test answers are the easiest to find. Laelaps will have no problem finding answers to that useless mortal test". Tammy reached in her purse and pulled out black, sleek laptop. It reassembled the laptop that Annabeth had gotten from Daedalus. Top notch technology.

Tammy opened the laptop and laid it on the table. Laelaps jumped on the chair and began typing away with its snout. Normally this would of looked cute but when you life is on the line there's no time for cuteness.

Tammy looked at me. "Laelaps will find track down these answers in minutes" she assured.

I didn't know if Laelaps would be able to find the answers or not. All i knew is i had bought myself some time and i needed to act fast. I could feel Riptide had returned to my pocket but trying to lash out again might put me in an even worse position. My arm had gone from being cut up to going numb now. I needed to act fast.

Laelaps had now let out a fierce growl and began to speed up the mashing of keys on the laptop. Finding the SAT answers would be harder than actually getting a perfect score on the test. Tammy had started to gather a look of doubt on her face.

Just then the oven timer went off signaling the cookies my mom had began baking earlier were done. Tammy and Laelaps looked up from the laptop startled. Tammy turned to me "What was that" she growled. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on us Percy Jackson?"

"Oh no, not at all" I responded. "Those were just cookies in the oven. I can go pull them out". I didn't see how I would be able to pull them out, my entire right arm had gone numb and i'm pretty sure the pan was too large to be lifted with only my left.

"No" Tammy spatted. "You stay there, don't move a muscle. I will go and check that signal. I need to make sure you aren't alerting your other demi-god fools".

Tammy approached my oven cautiously. As if the oven was a time bomb that would explode any minute. Her dog Laelaps was still heavily focused on searching for those SAT answers with to avail.

Now was my chance. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled the air as Tammy opened the oven and bent over, putting her face just far enough away, allowing her to inspect the contents but not smear off her whiskers.

I dashed over before she could react and kicked her from behind forcing half her body to be slammed into the oven. She screamed in pain as heat caressed her body. I pulled out Riptide with my left arm and flicked the cap off turning the pen into a celestial bronze sword. I impaled Tammy in the center of her back, easily slicing the sword through her body causing a pile of yellow powder to be where Tammy once was.

Laelaps had now brought its attention away from searching for SAT answers and looked at me with a murderous look as she realized i just vaporized her owner. The dog leaped from the table and landed in front of me, ready to rip me to shreds with its teeth.

I realized the only reason Laelaps had a sense of loyalty to Tammy was because of the dog treats she got fed. Laelaps did like or care about Tammy, she just wanted more goodies.

"Calm down girl" I tried to soothe. "I know something even better than dog treats". With mentioning that Laelaps' growling began to weaken and her head tilted with curiosity. I put Riptide down on the countertop and held my hand out to signal peace. Slowly and cautiously I reached in the oven, making sure not to burn my hand off. I pulled out one of my mom's famous blue cookies which was now scattered with Tammy's remains.

Once I got a cookie out of the oven Laelaps snatched it away with its teeth, nearly champing off my fingers. I watched as the dog devoured the cookie, even faster than my half brother Tyson and he's a cyclops… long story.

At first I was sure I was dead. Then Laelaps demeanor changed from hatred to happiness. The dog's tail wagged back and forth excitedly and yelped for more. I pulled out the tray and shook all the cookies to the floor. Laelaps went to work on those cookies and before i could blink they were all gone. Laelaps had just eaten the remains of it's owner.

Laelaps form had changed from its monstrous hound back to the little black lab. She looked up at me once more realizing there was none left and let out a little puppy squeal of sadness. She barked once more at me and ran to my door, nudging its nose between the door and the frame, opening the door wide enough for it to get out and run away.

I looked at the scene in front of me and realized how much trouble i would be in when my parents got home. I needed to clean up and fast. I didn't want my mom to know about the monster attack, she was due soon with my sister and i was pretty sure stress wasn't good for pregnant women.

My mind was still bouncing with questions. I wondered why she wanted to know about my father's underwater palace. What could she do anyway? That palace is so heavily guarded I doubted even with the knowledge of the layout, that she would be able to get in. Foxes are sly I remembered. Tammy was so fast she could probably slip through guards in the blink of an eye and being a mythical creature I bet she could breathe underwater. Maybe she didn't want the information for just her. What if she was working alongside someone- someone hidden behind closed doors waiting for the right time to reveal themselves.

Too many thoughts were filling my mind. I was supposed to be on a demi-god break. So far this didn't seem like much of a break. I had to talk to someone about this encounter and the only person I could think of was in Boston.

With a jolt I remembered my arm which had gone completely dead on me at this point. I ran to my room, careful not to dip blood anywhere, and reached into the top shelf of my dresser where i kept my stash ambrosia. I pulled out a small ambrosia spray bottle, courtesy of the Hephaestus cabin.

"TWO PUMPS"- was written on the bottle. Anymore and I would probably burn up. Ambrosia was for the gods but demigods could be exposed to some for healing purposes.

As I sprayed my sliced up arm, I watched as the open cuts began to close. My arm began to feel much better as if life was re-inserted.

Now I would have to get to the cleanup part of the job. That's the part I hated the most. Usually it was a lot of sweeping yellow dust and hiding broken furniture. It's like making a sandwich and then realizing you have to put the bread and meat away before you can dive in.

Just as I headed to clean up, I heard a shriek come from the living room followed by a loud bang. Someone had walked in.


	2. I See My Dad in a Bathrobe

**Chapter 2 - I See My Dad in a Bathrobe**

"Stupid…Seaweed…Brain!" Annabeth shouted in between punches. You would think Annabeth, my girlfriend, would be happy and relieved that I survived a monster attack. Well… Annabeth isn't like other girlfriends. Her piercing grey eyes glared at me as a storm brewed within them.

I filled Annabeth in on what had happened. I recalled how Tammy and her dog Laelaps had shown up at my door and begged for me to take her survey. I told her about how Tammy wanted my knowledge of Poseidon's underwater palace and more importantly the throne room. To say the least, Annabeth was less than impressed with my quick thinking and amazing roundhouse kick I used on Tammy (courtesy of Coach Hedge).

As she raised her arm for another punch I quickly reached up and grabbed her wrist preventing another bruise from forming on my shoulder. "I told you i'm sorry, I didn't know she was a monster." I said.

In my defence Tammy had put on a good facade. How was I supposed to know she was actually a mythical Fox in disguise. Tammy had a business card and everything. Usually monster will launch itself at you first sight.

"What business women goes around at 9 o'clock at night asking people to take surveys!" Annabeth shouted.

I let out a quiet murmur, "Tammy does." With that I earned myself another smack from Annabeth.

"Your stupidity can be so annoying at times." She let out a sigh as she calculated what to do next. I could see her eyes start to soften as she calmed down from her initial reaction to my stupidity. "Lets clean all this up before your mom and Paul come home. I don't want her to know a monster attack happened. She doesn't need the stress."

I agreed with Annabeth and we began the horrid monster clean process. I got the broom and dustpan and began to sweep up the remains of Tammy. The bulk of her yellow ashes had fallen in the oven, where I impaled her with my sword. Some though, had sneaked out and ended up scatter on the kitchen floor. Argh, monsters can make such a mess sometimes. They really need a monster clean up service, now that is something I would pay for.

Annabeth had moved Tammy's bag, death helmet, and laptop into my room. Her bag contained nothing but more survey sheets and a clipboard. A clipboard! Tammy told me she didn't have one, what a liar!

"Percy, do you have any carpet stain remover." Annabeth asked from my bedroom. I had tried not drip blood anywhere, blood was always the hardest to remove. I guess my arm wound must of bled more than I thought. I went in the cabinet under the kitchen sink and pulled out a spray bottle. "Yeah, here it comes." With that I looked in the hallway and blindly tossed it across into my room.

I had intended on it landing either on my bed or somewhere on the floor. With my luck though it smacked Annabeth right in the back of the head. I cringed as I heard the impact and her audible yelp. "Percy I am so going to kill you when we're done!"

"Sorry!" I pleaded and continued on sweeping duty which had suddenly become very interesting.

I was pretty disappointed that I had lost a freshly baked batch of cookies from my mom. I loved those and didn't even get one bite. Laelaps had gobbled up all of them, crumbs and all.

Once the kitchen looked clean, well clean in my book, I put back my cleaning utilities and went to my bedroom to check up on what Annabeth was doing. She must of been done with the carpet because I noticed the spray bottle placed outside my bedroom door.

As I walked in my room I spotted Annabeth sitting on my bed looking at Tammy's high tech laptop. "You know." I began. "I was going to get you one of those for Christmas but Best Buy sold out." Annabeth looked up clearly not amused at my attempt to lighten the mood. The laptop strangely reminded me of Annabeth's old one she had gotten from Daedalus. She had lost it during the last Great Prophecy and it was probably sitting somewhere in Tartarus right now.

"Really Percy," she started, "You tried to look up SAT answers on this thing?" She gave me a smirk. "I doubt even mythical technology can find those answers."

I shrugged my shoulder and sat down next to her. Annabeth was typing away at a thousand words per second. I had no clue what she was doing, I wasn't the best with technology. "What you looking for Wise Girl," I asked as her eyes bore down on the screen.

"You told me she wanted your memories right? That's what the helmet is used for, to extract memories from your brain. I figure that she has all her victims memories stored on this laptop so she can go back and look at all her footage. Like a backup."

A chill went up my neck as Annabeth said victim, whatever videos we see means one more person that was killed by Tammy. "I'm guessing that computer is a little harder to handle than a mortal one," I said.

"Yeah it is. I can't find the file location of the memories. There's millions of folders in here. If Tammy wanted to find out about your fathers palace we need to find out why. Maybe other recordings will give us some clues."

"Well if the laptop is just a backup then there are probably videos stored on the helmet. Can we just watch from the helmet?" I asked picking up the helmet and looking at the small screen plastered on the top. A shiver went down my spine as I looked at the sharp needles protruding from where the earholes should of been.

Annabeth took the helmet from my hands and lifted a flap that was on the back, opposite the screen. Within the flap was a small space that looked like it could hold batteries. "See Percy, there needs to be batteries to power it. I guess Tammy came prepaid with everything but batteries. It just makes you look like more of a fool to get tricked by someone who can't even remember to bring batteries." Annabeth said as she let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry, Paul just bought a case of batteries last week. Double A, single A, triple A. You name it and Paul has it." Annabeth let out another set of laughs.

"What would you do without me," Annabeth said. "Mortal batteries wouldn't power this Percy. It requires celestial bronze to work and I doubt Home Depot just got a new supply." It was times like these when I mentally slapped myself. Of course regular batteries wouldn't power a thing like that.

Just below the flap on the helmet there was a small slot which looked like you could plug a phone charger into it. I rushed off out my room, telling Annabeth I would be right back. I reached my parents bedroom and found Paul's phone charger on the nightstand. I snatched it up and returned to my room where Annabeth had gone back to work on the laptop. I picked up the helmet and plugged one end of the phone charger into the slot.

"Percy I really don't think that will work," Annabeth began shaking her head. I shushed her, which resulted in a death glare, and took the other end of the cord and guided it to the side of the laptop.

On the laptop there were no visible USB slots or headphone openings. I brought the end of the cord to the side where an opening would be on a mortal laptop and like magic, a USB opening formed, allowing me to connect the laptop and helmet.

Annabeth just looked at me with a gaping mouth. "You're still a Seaweed Brain," she said. I looked at her and gave a smirk.

Even though Annabeth was a child of Athena, and had the power of wisdom, I knew she had the tendency to over think somethings. I remembered the first time Annabeth used our microwave. She spent an hour trying to calculate the wattage and the exact amount of time needed. Eventually my mom had convinced her to just put the Hot Pocket on for two minutes.

Suddenly a window popped up on the laptop, a folder appeared containing hundreds of video files. "I love you," Annabeth muttered as she placed a peck on my cheek and began to search through the video titles.

"Thats a lot of victims," I said as Annabeth kept scrolling up. I caught a glimpse of some of the video names, apparently they were all titled with the victim's last name followed by first.

"Here we are," Annabeth announced as she finally made her way to the top of the list. "These are the most recent videos. Maybe they will give us some clues on why they wanted you."

Annabeth scrolled to the most recent video file. **Lun Shen: 05/08/06**. Hey, a video from 2006, that's not too long ago. I looked again at the name, Shen Lun. Judging by the name i'm guessing this person was of Asian descent. For some reason I felt as though I should know who this person is. My brain began running in circles trying to remember where I had heard this name before.

Annabeth turned and faced me. Breaking me out of my concentration, "Are you ready Percy, anything could be in this file."

"Sure, let me go quickly get some popcorn first." Annabeth smacked my arm and pressed play on the video.

At first the video was a mess of static. It resembled an old 1900's tape being played on a projector. A large old fashion number 5 appeared on the screen followed by a countdown to zero with beeps accompanying each number.

After the countdown the video cut to a black and white view of the ocean. A man was standing on a small sail boat, his hand propped over his eyes blocking the sun as he looked out into the endless sea.

It was strange watching this. It was a first person perspective, we were seeing from the perspective of Shen Lun's eyes. It was as if we were playing video game or something, except we had no control over what happened. I felt very creeped out, it was like I was intruding on someone's privacy.

An eerie silence filled the room. I quickly grabbed Annabeth's hand and gripped it tight. She must've been creeped out as well because she gripped my hand equally as hard.

The man looked across the endless horizon and then deterred his gaze to the boat where a map was propped up on the seat. He picked the map up and began to intently look at it. It was a map of somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Don't ask me how I instantly know, maybe it's just a son of Poseidon thing.

"Thats the Pacific," Annabeth said.

"How do you know," I asked.

"Isn't it obvious," Annabeth smirked. "You can see the latitude and longitude numbers along the side of the map. Given those numbers they must be somewhere along the Pacific. Where exactly i'm not sure."

Sometimes i forgot how smart Annabeth could be. "Oh well, I kinda just knew it was the Pacific. You know being the son of the sea god and all."

As we focused our attention back to the video, the man put the map down and began adjusting the sails of his boat. Altering the course it was taking.

The video cut and went black for a moment. Then it came back and now it was night time. Almost as if the video had a time jump, cutting out to the important parts.

Our first person perspective turned to the back of the raft and opened up a small compartment. Inside was what looked like diving gear. Fully equipped with an oxygen tank, flippers, and a suit with goggles. Strangely the suit had a faint blue omega symbol on it.

The man put the gear on and stepped up on the side of the boat. He looked up once more, taking in his last look of the stars and jumped in. He dove straight down, never stopping. He was a good swimmer, flippers or not you could tell by how fast he was moving that he knew what he was doing.

He continued to travel down, into the now pitch black abyss of what is known as the ocean. Nothing came into view, even after what seemed like an hour passed, or maybe that was just my ADHD acting up.

I turned and looked at Annabeth who seemed just as puzzled as I was. "What is he looking for," she questioned. "It must be important if he's deep sea diving all alone. That's a pretty risky thing to do with no one there for backup."

"Maybe there's some buried treasure. That would explain the map, maybe that was a treasure map." I tried to reason.

Annabeth mind was racing a million thoughts per second. I could tell by the look she would get in her eyes whenever she goes into deep thinking.

Finally after an eternity the scenery changed. It almost seemed as if the man was swimming up now. The dark endless abyss was getting brighter, but he was still traveling downward.

As it became brighter and brighter a large figure appeared in the distance. At first it was so far away I couldn't make out what it was. Then it came into view. It was an enormous bubble. Like a dome covering up something inside. What was inside was a large city, filled with tall looming buildings, towers, and streets. Columns lined up everywhere, holding up buildings and adding to the scenery. I had seen architecture like this before, and that was in New Rome.

"It's like New Rome," I said. "If New Rome was an underwater city." Annabeth nodded her head in agreement.

Standing in the center of the city, stood a large palace. Easily the most extravagant and most magnificent structure within the city. Everything within the city seemed to be revolving around this palace with streets spiraling around it, all leading up to a large set of gates with armed guards lined up along it.

The man dove around the bubble, swimming to a part where the ocean floor and the bubble edge met. He crossed the border, emerging into the bubble, entering the city. Gravity seemed to come back to normal as his feet were thrust onto the ground, the man barely kept his balance. Water no longer occupied the space within the bubble dome.

He appeared to be in a back street, in front of him was a brick wall, lined with trash cans and an old rusty door with an exit sign above it.

I had seen a lot of alley ways like this before. Living in New York you learn to take back streets as shortcuts to avoid large crowds. They were often dirty, littered with spilt trash cans, and were behind shady businesses. This alley way matched that description.

Our director removed his scuba gear and stashed it in a trash can, shoving it in deep and putting other trash on top, as if to hide the gear. He walked over to the exit door along the wall. He knocked in an assortment of patterns. Loud knocks followed by a pause and then quick soft knocks. It seemed like a passcode.

"Couldn't he just say open sesame," I said. Just as the words left my mouth the door opened, not fully though. Just wide enough for an arm to reach open, hand open and palm facing up. Our man reached into his pocket and took out a handful of denarii, Roman currency, and followed by placing them in the strange man's hand.

The door closed again for a second. Then it opened a little wider than before, still not fully opened though. A medium sized duffle bag was thrown out and the door slammed shut.

"That's not sketchy at all," Annabeth said sarcastically. Our guy began to open the duffle bag. Inside contained an assortment of weapons. Ranging from a rifle with a long range scope, to an imperial gold dagger. Beneath the weapons was a royal blue suit. An array of medals and stripes coated it. Along with the suit was a pair of black boots, black pants, and a sailor's hat with stars lined along the brim. Sitting atop the sailors hat was a small pearl. I remembered I had used one of those to escape the underworld years ago.

I watched as the man equipped all the clothing, keeping his undersuit on. He stashed his dagger inside the coat pocket and slung his rifle on his back. He then took out a silencer attachment and stashed it in his pants pocket. Placing the pearl within his back pants pocket.

After he took out what he needed, he tossed the bag behind a trash bin and headed out of the alley way into the main street.

The street was lined with pedestrians crossing the street while being shouted at by chariot drivers trying not to hit them. It was a cobblestone path and you could hear the clattering of the horses hooves as they padded along the street.

We watched as Shen Lun followed the crowd, ignoring the angry shouts from drivers. He crossed the road, blending in with the crowd as they took a right and walked in the direction of the majestic palace which was the centerpiece of the city. Occasionally he would get a look for a civilian but his guard disguise must of been top notch.

I began to notice the features of some of the people. Some were blue, literally there skin was blue with scales all along their face. Others looked like normal humans. There was even a green person which looked like a cross between a human and a seahorse. I did not want to think about how that person was made. I felt as if I was watching a deleting scene from a star wars movie at this point.

Lined along the streets regular shops were found. There were dining tables outside a restaurant and even a flower shop with an assortment of different bouquets to buy. In other words this seemed like a normal city, minus the odd looking people.

It became a daze as Shen passed countless shops and apartments. I didn't realize how close he had gotten to the palace until he was looking at the gates only a hundred yards away. Just before the palace driveway was a small flower shop. Similar to the prior flower shop but this one seemed more personal, like a family business shop.

A blue scaley women was outside, watering some of the flowers while a little girl, presumably her child, handed her another watering can as her current one ran out. The mother thanked her daughter and gave her cute cheeks a pinch, resulting in a joyous squeal from the little girl.

This scene warmed my heart and reminded me of when I was young and my mom and I would go to the candy store and pick out my favorite blue candy. Just a parent and child bonding moment. Maybe if we live long enough, Annabeth and I could have a moment like that with our child. I looked at Annabeth and gave a warm smile. She must of felt my gaze as she removed her eyes from the screen and gave me a welcoming smile and squeezed my hand.

Shen abruptly reached in his coat pocket, the opposite pocket the dagger was in, and pulled out a squeeze trigger.

Annabeth let out a gasp, "That's a C4 trigger." Just as I realized Annabeth's comment, Shen pulled the trigger.

A large rumbled shook the video. Screams could be heard, wailing as people were blown from the blast. Along the street, just before the palace driveway the flower shop was completely obliterated. My eyes widened at the sight of the little girl sprawled on the ground, bloody and disfigured, her mother nowhere in sight.

Panic arose in the city, alarms were sounded and people ran around frantically. The guards standing post at the palace gates ran from their positions, leaving only one behind, trying to help out wounded.

Shen used this chaos and ran off the cobblestone path, running through trees and shrubs leading to the palace. He slowed down and crouched behind a bush, looked ahead at the lone guard at the gate. The guard's gaze was clearly focused on the explosion which had just passed, neglecting his duties to guard the gate. Shen removed his rifle from his back and took out a black nozzle from his pant's pocket. He equipped the nozzle on the rifle and took aim at the standing guard.

With a blink of the eye the guard crashed to the ground, a splatter of red marked the side of his skull and the cobblestone next to his lifeless body.

Shen ran up to the body, searching the pockets. He pulled out an ID card and a key. He proceeded to then unlock the gate, allowing him access to the palace and marched up the path.

As he ran to the doors of the palace he passed other guards standing post. Intrigued by his urgency they signaled him to stop. Shen simply pulled out his ID card and flashed it to the guards. "There's been an incident in the city. I must inform Lord Neptune immediately," he shouted as the guards let him run passed them.

Shen reached the front doors which were crowned with a golden trim and large deep blue handles. Waves engraved each door, with large tridents as the centerpiece to each door's design.

Two guards stood post. Each wore the same attire as Shen but instead carried large staffs with sharp green tips. The only other difference was the golden helmets they wore opposed to the sailors hat of Shen. These must of been higher ranking guards.

"Stop!" Both the guards shouted. "No one without the required rank may pass beyond this point!"

Shen obeyed, pretending to be gasping for air, as if he was tired from his run up to the palace doors. I could tell though his exasperation wasn't genuine. I had run for my life countless amount of times, I knew when someone was actually out of breath.

Shen pretended to catch his breath. "Please you must let me in. There has been an explosion in the city. I must inform Lord Neptune." At the mentioning of that the guards thousand yard stares left and their focus was on Shen. "Where," the guard on the right demanded.

"Just outside the palace gates, in the small flower shop. There are many dead and wounded, the city will need royal assistance at this moment." Shen said as he clearly recaptured his breath.

The guards looked at each other for a second, as if they were having a conversation with their eyes. The one on the right looked back at Shen. "You go back to your post, we will inform the Lord."

Shen was obviously not pleased with that response. "No you must stay here, the gates need to be guarded and your heavy staffs and helmets will weigh you down. Allow me."

The guards looked at each other once more to have another silent conversation. This was all Shen needed. He took out his concealed dagger and impaled the stomach of the guard on the right. Shocked, the guard on the left swung his staff at Shen, who ducked and swiftly rolled to the side of the guard. Shen stabbed the guard in the calf. The guard kneeled in pain and before he could let out a shout Shen placed his hands on either side of the guard's neck and fiercely twisted, resulting in an audible popping noise and the guard's body fell to the floor.

At this point so many thoughts were going through my mind I didn't know what to think. By my side Annabeth was in equal shock. I had not expected to see this and neither did she. I wanted to pause the video. Partly because I felt I would throw up and partly because I wanted to discuss what we had seen so far. We couldn't stop now, we needed to see what would happen next.

Shen removed the guards helmet and proceeded to toss the bodies into bushes lined up beside the doors. Carefully looking around to check if anyone had seen the events that just transpired. He then removed his sailors cap and equipped the helmet.

Shen opened the doors and entered. I would of admired the palace in other circumstances. The floor was marble, a beautiful shade of blue while the walls were a soft, creamy white. I knew by my side Annabeth was gushing about the architecture.

Shen calmly walked around, as if he had not just killed a dozen of people in an explosion or murdered two guards. He passed hallways which were scattered with guards, all containing the same attire as Shen, which is probably why he wasn't stopped and questioned.

After he passed multiple hallways he walked to a large spiral staircase which I would believe would lead to the top of the palace.

He trudged up the staircase, occasionally looking behind him to see if he was followed. As he reached the top of the staircase he faced another set of large doors, similar to the ones at the entrance of the palace. Next to the doors there was a sole guard who wore a full set of body armor and carried an imperial gold trident and wore a matching golden helmet. To the guards left was an empty plant pot holder with nothing but soil.

The guard saw Shen, not at all surprised, as if he expected to see him any minute. Then his eyes darted to the empty pot. "Make it quick," the guard spoke through gritted teeth, barely opening his mouth. Shen nodded and took out his rifle. This time he didn't just shoot the guard. He reached in his pocket and took out a small dart. He unscrewed the silencer nozzle from the weapon and inserted the dart in the barrel. He then aimed it at the guard and shot the guard in the neck, the backside of the dart sticking out while narcotic side protruded into his neck.

The guard slumped to the ground with a loud thud as his armor clashed on the marble. Shen proceeded to move the body out of the way and picked up the pot. He turned it upside down, letting the soil fall out next to the unconscious guard. Tapped to the bottom of the inside of the pot was a small cube which had a glowing blue omega symbol on it.

Shen continued on, he opened the doors and marched in. The room was amazing to say the least. A long red carpet was laid down leading all the way to the end of the room where a 10 feet tall, solid blue throne sat. On both sides of the carpet were white columns which matched the walls. Tables filled each side of the room, containing a luxurious array of foods.

Next to the throne, emitting a faint golden glow, sat a blue trident of almost equal size to throne. Even though I was only watching a video replay of these events, I could still feel the power that weapon contain. It was if it contain the power of the whole ocean in each spear tip.

Shen went forward until he was within a hand grasp of the trident. All of a sudden a door opened from in back of the room. Footsteps were heard as they walked along the marble.

A loud booming voice spoke, "Ahhh, thank you so much for that deep muscle relaxing massage Natasha." The footsteps began to come closer.

"No gratitude needed my lord," a woman's voice sounded. "Whatever I can do to help keep you relaxed. The work of a god can be a tiring affair."

There was an edge to her voice, almost as if she had repeated those lines a thousand times and could actually have cared less.

Then the voices emerged from behind the throne. It was a man and a women. The man had a long jet black beard, neatly trimmed and perfect length. His eyes were an intense shade of green and his face carried well defined features.

This must've been Neptune, the Roman counterpart to my dad Poseidon. He looked almost exactly the same except his face looked much more sturdy and serious. All he was wearing was a pink puffy bathrobe (you know what they say, you see something different everyday).

The woman was a dark shade of blue and she had scales all along her body, similar to the citizens we had seen before. In her hands was a glass vial, containing what appeared to some kind of lotion.

As they noticed Shen standing in front of the throne the woman let out a shriek and dropped the vial, resulting in it shattering and its contains spilling out.

Neptune paused and eyed Shen for a few seconds. Shen still stood right beside the trident, not moving a muscle, though not nervous either, as if he had planned for this.

Neptune broke the long stare, "How dare you show up at a god's throne with no prior announcement or approval. This is my throne room, I will not allow just anyone to frolic in." Neptune took a step closer to Shen. "GUARDS!" Neptune shouted. "Remove this mortal at once." It was kind of funny considering Neptune was sporting a pink fluffy robe, it sort of diminished the whole angry vibe he tried creating.

After a couple of seconds no one showed up. Neptune looked puzzled. Shen began to speak, "Do you really think I would walk into the throne room with no plan in mind?"

"I could careless what you plan mortal," Neptune spat. "I guess I will just have to handle you myself, it wouldn't be the first time a destroyed a mortal being." At that Neptune raised his hand as if to blast Shen to bits.

Shen was quicker though. He reached in his pocket and extracted the cube he took earlier, the omega symbol shining brightly.

Just before Neptune could send off his blast, Shen threw the cube which hit Neptune square in the chest. The cube sprouted golden chains which wrapped themselves around Neptune who let out a shriek and fell to the floor, electrical currents running through the chains, constantly zapping whoever was contained. The woman at this point had run off, probably to go alarm someone, but Shen was in no sense of urgency.

"HOW DARE YOU," bellowed Neptune. "Release me this second and I will spare you eternal suffering."

Shen let out a cruel laugh, I had heard a laugh like that before, from an old demigod at camp. His name was Luke and he had helped Kronos try to take over Olympus.

"You gods do as you please and don't think twice about the consequences," Shen said. "Doing as you please, sending chaos amongst the world whenever you are in a state of despair or anger. Well I think it's time things changed."

"YOU!" Neptune shouted with sudden realization. "You are Shen Lun, my descendant. Disgraced by New Rome."

"WRONGLY DISGRACE!" Shen shouted back. "It was you who sent the shock waves upon the earth. It was you who caused catastrophe and chaos to the lands above. And I was the one to take the blame. Disgraced and thrown out for a wrong conviction." Shen spoke with such hatred in his words it sent chills down my spine.

Neptune changed from a look of anger to one of thought. "I am trying to remember but can't seem to think of the last time I caused such an event on the mortals. Maybe it was when I lost at Jupiter's ping pong tournament last month." Neptunes eyes widened. "Oh yes of course, I rightfully won but Jupiter being Jupiter had to win, he doesn't like to lose. Neither do I but it was his home and he cheated to win by placing invisible holes in my paddle."

Shen's voice became deathly quiet. "So you put me, your descendant into disownment and disgrace because you lost your temper over a ridiculous GAME!" His voice raising with every word.

Neptune's stern look of anger returned to his face. "Listen here, I am a god. I can do as I please and whatever I please. As for you, I have nothing to say. Maybe if you wore a more worthy legacy they would have believed you".

Shen resumed his cruel laughter. "I wonder what would happen if your powerful trident was taken. Maybe without it you can no longer send your anger amongst the lands above." As Shen spoke he turned his look to the glowing trident now inches away from him. Not noticing the weakening of the chains holding Neptune.

Neptune seemed to have noticed this aswell. "How did you enter my waters undetected. I should have noticed your presence right as you entered my waters. You surely must of swam down here, I know of your abilities to form into any animal of your desire."

This sent a shock through my body. That is why the name sounded so familiar. Shen Lun was the disgraced descendant of Poseidon, who was able to join the Roman legion because of his Roman ancestry and his ability to form into any animal of his desire, and the great grandfather of my friend Frank Zhang. He was blamed for the earthquake of 1906 in San Francisco.

Shen turned and looked at Neptune. "You know Neptune, there are some powerful sorceresses above the sea waters. Who knew there would be one who could create a suit capable of hiding my presence." I instantly remembered that scuba suit Shen had worn. I didn't think twice of it before while he put it on.

Shen took a step further and reached his hand out. "I will take from you, your most prized possession. Just as you have take my life and pride away from me."

Right before Shen could grab the trident the magical chains holding Neptune snapped. Shen gasped and flinched as if he was startled. Clearly not expecting this. Before he could grab the trident Neptune shot a blast of energy at Shen. Sending him flying across the room. The video began become fuzzy, probably because it wasn't a video rather a recollection of Shen's memory.

"Not so smug now," Neptune smiled. "Now you are going to get it." Neptune picked up his trident and pointed it at Shen. I must say that if it was me in this situation, with my father's trident pointed at me with all the intent to kill me, I would've needed a change of clothes. Even sitting watching it happen made me feel uneasy.

A blue beam, raging with energy shot out. Shen dove to the side and backed up against a column. Where he once stood was a scorched hole in the wall. "Oh, I see you are quick kid. You probably would of made a good legionnaire, next time i'll check my paddle and make sure it's not enchanted, just for you."

The roaring of Neptune's trident loading up with energy could be heard. Undoubtedly he was aiming it at the column pillar, ready to vaporize Shen.

Just before Neptune could shoot his trident, Shen pulled out of his back pocket the pearl he had received from the duffle bag. Fast as lightning he slammed the pearl on the ground and he was encased in a protective bubble.

Neptune shot his trident, breaking the column but reflecting off Shen's encasement, destroying a table full of perfectly good food. The bubble ascending, phasing itself and Shen through the ceiling. The last look of Neptune was with a scowl on his face.

The protective bubble went up, past the top of the palace and above the city. The view was undeniably beautiful. The only blemish was the smoke rising from the small flower shop, remembering me about the chaos that had just occurred.

Eventually the bubble led Shen out of the city dome and up through the ocean. It rose from the ocean and popped on the shoreline. Shen found himself on a beach, at this point the sun was just rising and some early morning joggers could be seen running by, not giving him a glance.

Shen walked out of the shallow water, each step slower than the last. As he fully exited the water he kicked the sand and let out a scream filled with anger and sadness.

After seeing what this guy just did I held no sympathy for him. He killed innocent people for his chance of revenge. Showed no care for the lives he took. But still, part of me thought about how unfair it was. If Neptune had just gone out and took account for the earthquake that wrecked San Francisco then this whole incident wouldn't have happened.

Gods wouldn't risk losing their pride though. Neptune would never let the Roman legion know it was his fault. It was best to believe it was his descendant, that way he won't take all the blame for it, just his offspring.

Annabeth and I had been so engrossed in the video, it almost seemed as if we were there, reliving the events with Shen. Maybe it was the technology the video was played on, tricking our mind.

Annabeth looked at me. "Wow," was all she said.

"That was insane," I replied. I noticed the video kept going. "It's not over though."

Shen was walking along the beach, kicking up random piles of sand and yelling out insults and curses. All of a sudden a jogger and her dog pulled up alongside him. The women had autumn colored hair, with a fair complexion and a pointy nose and ears.

"Hello," she said. "Would you like to take a survey?"

* * *

 **AN: Please leave your reviews. I want to continue the story and let it develop more but I need to know if people are actually reading and are interested in the story so far and enjoy the writing style I present.**


	3. I Take an Unexpected Flight

**Chapter 3- I Take an Unexpected Flight**

It was getting late and I was getting no sleep...again. Can you blame me though? It's not everyday you survive a monster attack and watch as an old descendant of yours almost committed treason against your father. For demigods this is more of an every other day affair.

I twisted and turned in my bed, finding sleep an almost impossible task to accomplish. Too many thoughts were circling around in my head, which is normally the case considering my ADHD, but it was as if my brain was on overdrive right now. If ADHD was a person, then my ADHD would be jacked up with steroids right now.

Annabeth and I never got to talk about what we saw in the video. Literally seconds after the video finished my mom and Paul had walked into the apartment. They were completely unaware that anything out of the ordinary happened. If college doesn't pan out for me then I know I have a career in house cleaning.

My mom was under the impression that the only thing I had done the whole night was study and Paul was so slumped from the two hour romantic comedy he was forced to see, that he went right to bed. Muttering something about a cheesy plot and horrible punch lines.

My mom on the other hand was less than pleased that all of the cookies she was baking were gone. I lied and said I ate them all. I really hated lying to my mom. After all she had done for me in her life, making sure I got to live at least a semi-normal life until I was twelve, putting up with Gabe and holding on her writing career.

I wanted to tell her the truth but I knew she didn't need that stress right now. I had already put her through enough stress in the past year, you know with vanishing for eight months with nothing but a voicemail telling her I was alive. Even though it was entirely not my fault at all, I had still been the cause of her quickened heart rate and I didn't want to be anymore. I just wanted to live a normal life, at least for a couple of months.

Well she had me help her bake another supply of cookies, apparently one of Paul's brothers was visiting tomorrow and my mom had wanted some cookies to feed to Paul's nephews.

Annabeth of course helped out too. She loved helping my mom with any task. I think it's because all her life Annabeth never really had a strong mother figure. Her real mother is Athena, the goddess of wisdom, so there's little opportunity for mother-daughter bonding there. And her stepmother had never really warmed up to the whole demigod world like Paul had.

All while we were baking there was still the elephant in the room. Annabeth and I would exchange nervous glances at each other, just looking for any opportunity to discuss the prior events.

My mom must of noticed our awkwardness too because she kept asking if everything was alright between us. If we had any recent fights, or if we needed help in the romance department. That last question left me sputtering like a fish. If for any reason in the world that Annabeth and I broke up, I'm pretty sure my mom would be more heartbroken than I would be.

Finally after over an hour of baking I thought we were in the clear and could start to decipher what went on earlier. It seemed as if the fates had other plans though.

My mom would randomly get spurts of creativeness and would rush to her laptop and start writing for her next novel. Unfortunately for me her creative spark came just as Annabeth and I were about to talk things over. Mom took her laptop and plopped down in the kitchen. There was no way we could whisper and have my mom not get suspicious. She would easily be able to hear us from the kitchen. My apartment is exactly as spacious as one would think.

Eventually we called it a night and decided to try and talk in the morning over coffee. We would wake up and head to the coffee shop just outside my apartment complex, it was the weekend so school was the last thing on my mind.

I found myself lying on my bed in the middle of the night. I couldn't wrap my mind around what I saw. I knew Shen Lun had been blamed for the earthquake in 1906. He was scrutinized and hated by New Rome even though he had nothing to do with it. Eventually his name was cleared but it came over a hundred years too late.

Shen was so angry that he had attempted to steal Neptune's trident, his symbol of power. I had been involved with a theft involving a power symbol before and let's just say it was a messy situation. Why couldn't gods just file a police report and call it a day when things like this happen?

I was confused though. I had been to my father's kingdom before, I was pretty sure it was somewhere on the east coast of America. Maybe that was Poseidon's kingdom and his Roman side Neptune has a completely separate one. But aren't they the same person?

How did I fit into all this? Tammy had wanted my knowledge of the throne room, but didn't she already have it from Shen's memories? What was she panning?

I had to stop thinking before I caused myself a migraine. I had done that a couple times before, over thinking, which according to Annabeth is a rare occasion. She says I usually underthink things.

I rolled over to my other side and was now facing my door. My eyes lit up as I noticed it was wide open. My hand flung to my bed stand where I kept Riptide when I slept and I quickly uncapped it.

I heard a yelp as Annabeth appeared right infront of me, inches away from getting her head chopped off from the blade.

"Percy it's me!" She whisper-shouted. "Put that away before you get someone killed." I complied and returned it to pen form and placed it back where it usual stayed for the night.

Annabeth grabbed my hand dragging me out of bed. "We need to talk about all this," she said as she pointed to the laptop and helmet I had stashed under a pile of my dirty clothes. "I can't sleep and I have a bad feeling about this."

I gave her a nod. "Where are we going," I asked as we walked out of my room entering the hallway. Being careful to keep our footsteps as silent as possible.

"You'll see." She responded as we walked through the living room and out my apartment door, making sure we grabbed the keys before we left. Annabeth led me up through the stairs of the apartment complex to the roof entrance.

On the door I could barely make out the "DO NOT ENTER" sign. Above that was a little emergency symbol indicating the alarm would go off if we opened the door.

I looked over at Annabeth, "Are you sure we can go up here?"

"Don't be so naive Seaweed Brain. Do you really think the landlord would equip an emergency sensor to this door. There's not even a sound emitter anywhere, we'll be fine." Just as she said that she lunged forward opening the door. I closed my eyes and cringed, expecting an alarm to sound but it never came.

"Huh," I puffed as we walked out onto the rooftop. I guess my landlord was a pretty cheap dude. I saw him at the grocery store once arguing over coupons with the teenage clerk. He would not leave until he got his $5 discounted muffins. So I guess an emergency sticker was just as good as an actual security system in his eyes.

We walked over to the side of the rooftop, a view overlooking the city of Manhattan. Cars zooming by as late night shows came to a closing. Couples taking strolls, joggers getting in their runs. To say the least it was a perfect view, a view I had grown up with.

"So," Annabeth started, "Shen Lun you told me about him before. A disgraced descendant of Poseidon from New Rome." I nodded my head. "It was clear he was trying to steal Posei- I mean Neptune's trident. An act of revenge for the earthquake Shen was blamed for."

"That's what It seems like." I said. "Then after he escaped Tammy caught him and probably put him through that helmet she had wanted to use on me." I shuddered at that thought. "She wanted information of the palace, she got it from Shen, she must of known about his plan before he even departed on it, just waiting for him to resurface."

Annabeth eye's lit up. "Tammy wanted the trident. Whether or not he succeeded in stealing the trident it was a win-win situation for her. She either was going to steal the trident off him, or steal his memories from him so she could get the trident herself."

I murmured an agreement. "Where does that leave me though? If she already had knowledge from Shen of the palace layout, why would she want my information? I haven't even seen that palace before. I visited my dad's palace a couple of times but that was somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Pacific."

"And that was Poseidon you visited," Annabeth said. "Shen tried to steal from Neptune, the Roman aspect of your father."

"Maybe they have separate palaces," I cut her off. "It's not totally out of the realm of possibility. I mean there are two separate camps for Roman and Greek demigods so maybe it's the same with my father's two aspects."

Annabeth nodded her head and murmured some sort of agreement. I could tell though she was not totally sold on my idea. Neither was I, in all honesty. It just seemed as if I was making up a scenario to make sense of things.

"You know," I began. "I just wish we got some time off."

"What do you mean."

I looked her in directly in the eyes, "Time off from this. Constantly on edge, worried that someone or something might come after us. Or the gods will find themselves in another situation where they need our help."

Annabeth put her hand on my arm. It sent sparks up my arm as her cold touch met my skin. I hadn't really realized how could it actually was. With so much on my mind I forgot it was the middle of the winter.

"Remember how I told you Apollo came asking for my help," she nodded, "I kept telling myself the reason I couldn't help him was because I had other worries, with SAT and trying to get into college. But really, it wasn't that I couldn't help him, its that I didn't want to help him."

Annabeth now grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. "Percy, we both know we have been through alot in our lives. We're just a little exhausted from it all, I know when it come down to it, you'll always do the right thing."

"But what's the right thing," I started. "The right thing for me, or for them," I said looking up to the sky. I didn't know why I was so filled with resentment. Maybe it was because of what just happened tonight, or maybe all my anger and thoughts were being bottled up so much, that tonight it just all came out.

"Percy, I know you. You will always do what's right. Whats right for everyone."

I sighed. "I just want some peace, is that too much to ask for. I thought after the Titan War, we could have some. I was wrong about that. What if, even after the Giant War and all we've been through, we still can't find a little peace."

Annabeth was shivering from the cold now, wrapping half of herself in the crook of my shoulder, and draping one of my arms around her. "Percy, why are you talking like this? You are starting to sound like him."  
She didn't need to say who him was. I understood. I knew exactly who I sounded like. What bothered me the most wasn't that Annabeth had just basically called me Luke, it's that, I too realized who I sounded like, but the worst part, I didn't even care.

I needed to shake my head of these thought. I was just a little aggravated, that's all. Give it a week or two and I'll be good...right?  
"We need to inform Chiron," Annabeth said. "Who knows what could be going on. With Apollo out on his series of quests things could get even messier if we don't follow up on this. This wasn't just a normal monster attack, there's a plan involved in this."

I knew she was right. If it was up to me, I would of just threw that laptop and death machine in the garbage the night before trash pickup. But with Annabeth here, I knew she would stop at nothing until she figured out what was going on.

My mind quickly wandered to Apollo and his troubles with the Oracles. I didn't know if these events were connected, all I could hope for was that they weren't.

"Tomorrow how about after your cousins visit we take a quick trip down to Camp," Annabeth said. "Tell Chiron exactly what happened and make it quick, maybe he can arrange a group of demigods to look into it."

I nodded my head in agreement. I was now shivering myself and realized we should probably be going back inside.

"Sounds like a plan, Wise Girl," I said while smiling at Annabeth. She returned my smile and we turned to head back into my apartment.

All of a sudden the air was pierced with a loud screech. I ducked down and tried to cover my ears, Annabeth did the same.

I felt like rivers of blood were gushing out of my ears as the screeching got louder, and louder, signaling the source was getting closer.

I reached in my pocket, hoping to find Riptide but then I realized I was in my pajamas, which didn't have pockets and Riptide was on my bedstand.

I looked over at Annabeth who was also trying to cover her ears to the best of her ability. She nodded her head towards the door, silently saying to keep going and get inside.

I followed her lead and be both tried to make it to the door. By this time my eardrums were probably shattered and I was sure I would need hearing aids after this.

We reached the door and Annabeth went in first. Under normal circumstances we didn't run from monsters. You had to deal with them as they came, or else they would just come back again in a worse situation. We didn't know what we were running from, but whatever it was we knew we wouldn't be able to handle it with our bare hands.

I was right behind Annabeth the whole time, only giving space to let her in the door, that was my mistake.

Just as Annabeth crawled inside a strong gust of wind grabbed me and pulled me back. I slammed hard on my side and let out a groan as my head slammed on the hard surface of the roof, my ears now fully exposed to the unbearable screeching.

I tried to look around and see what it was but my searching was cut short. A pair of strong talons grabbed me by the shoulders, sinking deep into my body.

I let out a howl of pain. I could see the door struggling to open as Annabeth pounded from the other side. A furious, constant wind from the outside making sure it wouldn't open.

I felt my body being lifting into the air, I tried all I could to get out of this monster's grasp. To no avail, I felt my body being lifted higher and higher until my building's rooftop became a view in the distance.

The last thing I saw was the small figure of the rooftop door pop open and Annabeth run out, looking around for me. But I was already long gone.

* * *

 **A/N: So I know my last chapter, chapter 2, probably wasn't my best, I kind of put it all together in one night and didn't really think too much about the small details... e.g. the C-4 trigger in 1906. I will probably edit those things as time goes on to make the story more polished and I will definitely fix chapter 1 which had loads of mistakes.**

 **Sorry if the story feels a little slow right now. I'm just trying to get a proper build up but I promise it should start to pick up. I hope you enjoy, and make sure to review. Your input really helps me on deciding what direction I should go in... if I should speed things up or what direction to go in. Well, its been a word, from yours truly.**

 **ALSO, a quick shout out to- Quihi. Their feedback has really helped me to polish my work and keep writing. Everyone could take a little tip from them.**


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